The advent of smartphones has produced a market for software accessories that include thousands of products that enhance, assist, and affect our lives in ways that were not imagined a decade ago. Phone applications have grown the market into a multi-billion dollar industry providing everything from radio frequency (RF) connected security systems, controlling lights in a home for energy efficiency, and viewing cameras remotely at the touch of a screen.
Various patents have disclosed inventions relating to electronics or electronic components that may or may not be relevant to the smartphone accessory market. Some patents have disclosed inventions relating to remote control electronic parts, such as wires, lights, printed circuit boards, switches, and more to produce lighted effects on surfaces. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,670,743 and 8,670,756. U.S. Pat. No. 8,655,345 discloses proximity sensing and control. U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,659,400 and 8,666,367 disclose remote control of portable digital devices. Electronic parts are susceptible to failure though contact with water, breaking, shorting out, or other means normally associated with electronic components.
It is known to employ electronics attached to the item to generate a lighted display. It is also known to use colors, routines, and speeds that were controlled by a chip that was pre-programmed to display certain images, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,365, which discloses a method of creating animations on flexible surfaces using fiber optics and programmable driver without any mention of audio synchronization of defined optical frames to accompany such depicted animations or any mention of remote controlling of such displays.
It is known to control lighted displays remotely, but known methods and systems utilize electronics mounted in the item. An example of such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,276, which discloses a spatial energy field including a sound and light generator and discriminator for providing electrical signals to a plurality of individual stations resulting in the formation of dynamic geometrical shapes, patterns and designs to display according to particular pitches and amplitudes in the music.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,600 discloses the use of a series of rigid layers and UV filters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,246 discloses the use of solid supports for identifying alphanumeric characters on a typewriter keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,871 discloses the use of fiber optic cables that transmit full images of a display remotely. U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,437 discloses the transmission of full images from a distant display.
Some patents disclose systems and methods for producing dynamic displays. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,843 discloses an optical display device that is secured to active limbs of a body in motion. The body movement enhances an optical display that illuminates the wearer for ornamental or safety purposes. The device consists of a plurality of lamps which are coupled to four flexible strip circuit boards. Each circuit board has a translucent shield placed over the length of the circuit board to cover the lamps for protection from moisture, impact and provide alternative colored illumination. Placement of the device is on each upper arm of the user with a second circuit board positioned on each portion of a person's lower arm. A control circuit is included for energizing the lamps. The device is prone to failure, such as shorts and wire breakage points, because wires and components are installed in the item.
Some patents have disclosed inventions that relate to electronics and to fabrics or to clothing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,144 discloses a fabric illuminated by the outer ends of a large number of optical fibers that form an illuminated changing display of several figures. The fibers extend along the inner surface of the fabric and are gathered into several bundles each of which engages a connector housing having a light source. The light source is connected to a power source that energizes an electronic control device which sequentially causes each light source to be activated in a programmed manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,307 discloses an article of clothing that includes a shell forming an outer layer, a liner disposed generally inside the shell and forming an inner layer of the clothing, and a set of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) forming a predetermined pattern on the exterior of the clothing. A power source is located within the clothing, for illuminating the LEDs as is a control circuit for controlling the activation of the LEDs. A cable electrically connects the LEDs and the power source and an overlay secured to the shell, has imprinted a pattern corresponding to the predetermined pattern of the LEDs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,911 discloses data digital displays in which mechanical mechanisms prevent the use on garments or fabrics such using a spinning wheel matrix of numbers to display lighted numerals through fiber optics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,188 discloses the use of synthesized music and sound to activate a light system incorporated into an article of clothing that includes shoes, jackets, arm bands and waist bands that light up patterns. The disclosed system results in non-associative patterns lighting up by frequency triggers in the audio tracks. The system utilizes electronics that are not machine washable.
The need for thin flexible data displays is growing in many applications as research and development of such technologies moves forward to bring the pricing down and manufacturing capacities up to meet anticipated demands. Black and White E-Inks (Ink that responds to electrical charges and is able to change the appearance of print on a surface as thin as paper), Mylar (paper thin) video screens are being developed for applications as Plasma, LED screens, and other technologies cannot be applied to such thin surfaces cost-effectively or otherwise. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and LCDs that are used in many Multi-meters for data displays and screens on mobile phones and other products require a solid foundation along with protection to support protect the screens from breakage, but remain prone to breakage if impacted hard enough by foreign objects.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,540,242 and 7,145,536 disclose liquid crystal display (LCD) screens that are commonly used to display data are difficult to see unless back lighted resulting in additional current draw requirements.
It has long been recognized that a system for identifying friend or foe (IFF) and immediately determining the physical state of individuals from a distance is needed in both military and civilian employment that is not only useful in its function, but also cost effective enough to be considered for widespread usage throughout a wide range of applications. Many systems have been suggested for use in the past with respect to IFF using data transmission via IR carriers involving encryption and decryption of data, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,225,828, 6,466,710, and 6,698,330. Other patents disclose the use of RF, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,949,397 and 4,862,176.
The above-described methods rely upon a transmitter, receiver, or transponder mounted somewhere on the item or individual in the line of sight of the corresponding receiver/transmitter of an observer. Indeed, if the transponder is located out of sight of the corresponding receiver, the “line-of-sight” methods fail to work since it is the nature of IR to be in the “line-of-sight” to function as a data transmission method. RF is not desirable for use on battlefields due to an enemy's ability to intercept such transmissions and use them for their own purposes. Plus, they all contain electronics that are exposed to adverse environmental conditions and punishment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,215 discloses a system that utilizes RF to activate an IR transmission ID verification signal back to a receiver, but the same issue remains regarding the line-of-sight necessity that infrared needs to function so that stepper motors and additional circuitry for decoding purposes were added to allow a 360 degree transmission area to be realized. These modifications add weight and require more power, thus increasing the necessity for additional batteries to keep these units operational for extended periods of time in situations where replacement batteries cannot be available.